Afghanistan, other issues to be discussed during China visit: FM Qureshi

Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that he would hold meetings with the foreign ministers of several countries during his stay in China, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

In a statement issued to the media before leaving for Beijing, he said in his meetings with the FMs of Central Asian Republics as well as with those of Iran and Russia, regional issues would come under discussion. “Region’s economic and political stability and the situation in Afghanistan will also be discussed in our meetings,” he explained.  

Emphasizing that Pakistan had cordial relations with all the countries, Qureshi said the country wanted further strengthening of these ties.  

The foreign minister went on to say that the memories of the conference held on Afghanistan on September 19, 2021 were still fresh in minds. “And who can forget the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Islamabad just a few days ago; look how many countries had sent their representatives to the event,” he added.

FM Qureshi revealed that one of the powerful countries had pressured Pakistan not to go ahead with the Russia visit. “But we tried to make it understand that the nature of our relations with the country was of bilateral nature,” he divulged.     

He further said it was up to Prime Minister Imran Khan to disclose contents of the ‘threatening letter’ Pakistan had received from some foreign countries. 

Alleging that the opposition parties were squandering their money to buy the loyalties of the MNAs ahead of voting on the no-trust motion in the National Assembly, the foreign minister regretted that such practices were not a good omen for the future of the country and for democracy. “Overthrowing a government through money is not good for the country at all,” he said, and added, “This will set a bad precedent instead.”

Qureshi said when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had come to power in 2018, it was its endeavor that its foreign policy should be independent. “In order to ensure economic stability of the country, our government shifted its focus from geo-politics aspect of the foreign policy to geo-economics,” he explained.    

Talking about the parleys being held with the PTI government’s coalition partners to win their support before voting on the no-confidence motion, he said when he and other leaders of the PTI had gone to meet Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MNAs at Parliament Lodges on Monday night, they were very much pleased to learn that PML-Q had decided to throw its weight behind the government and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had been nominated as the candidate for the position of Punjab chief minister. “We think that the PML-Q’s decision will help MQM-P decide its future course of action with respect to no-trust motion,” he concluded.